Naruto: Extracted
by bigdogneversleeps
Summary: Naruto has lived almost twelve years of his life as the container for the Nine-Tailed Fox. Usually, he would spend his entire life as its container. But here, the masked Tobi decided to start early, and kidnaps him before he leaves the Academy. In a Pyrrhic victory for him, Akatsuki gets the Kyuubi. And Naruto gets a new chance at a normal life. But nothing is normal for this ninja
1. Prologue

So, this is my new big story to replace Lost Idol, which I am ending for the foreseeable future. It is a concept that probably exists in a few places on this site, but none that I have seen so I have decided to give it a go.

I know I said I was going to do a different story called Naruto:Icarus which had Orochimaru as the Yondaime, but I scrapped the idea since I didn't really have any long term ideas of what to do with it. With Lost Idol, I had ideas but I lost interest with the story. The Hat Hangs Heavy has some clear ideas for the future, as does Second Chance. But while I had some cool ideas for Naruto: Icarus, it would have likely ended up going the way of a few other fics I killed off after a few uninspired chapters.

Sidenote, an idea I had for the story is up for grabs by whomever is interested. I call it the Uchiha Penance. The full explanation is on my author's page.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and please leave a review. The next chapter will be much longer, since this is just a prologue. Enjoy!

* * *

Not for the first time, Naruto Uzumaki cursed his luck. Normally, this was brought on by the underlying hostility and glares sent to him by random civilians and shinobi. But it wasn't about them this time.

This time, it was about a choice he made. Two choices, actually.

The first came almost three years before, during his ninth birthday. The Old Man had been nice enough to get him an apartment and move him out of the orphanage. That was one of the benefits of being a shinobi in a hidden village, free boarding if you so chose it. Perhaps it was early to call him a shinobi, but it was a matter of when and not if. So the Old Man was nice enough to let him have an apartment. There were a few options offered to him, and it came down to two apartments. The first offered air conditioning and a bigger kitchen, while the second offered an extra room and it was closer to his favorite ramen stand. He decided to go with the second apartment, but looking back he regretted it.

His kitchen was kinda tiny, the extra room was only okay, and the time to get to Ichikaru's from both apartments where only a few minutes apart. And, during the summers, Konoha nights could be a bitch. His room became a humid mess that was almost unbearable.

His second choice was only three months ago, on what fan he should get to replace his old one. He had the options of a cheap 100 ryo secondhand fan or a brand new 300 ryo fan. Considering how much instant ramen he could get with 200 ryo (about 25 cups), it was obvious to him that he should get the cheap fan. The damn thing broke in a few months, and now he had to get a new one. But he didn't have the time to do it because of the academy. So he had to sleep in his humid mess of his room, and no amount of stripping down was helping. He wasn't about to go fully nude, so he did the next best thing. It was also the sort of thing that his teachers had stressed him not to do since it was a bad idea for a ninja, but who cared? He opened his window and let the cooler night air lull him to sleep. The breeze was a blessing to the blonde thought of having put himself into danger didn't even cross his mind.

And in truth, he hadn't. A window, or a door, was ultimately a minor inconvenience for an experienced shinobi and one they could get right through. Even the usual traps one may set for intruders could be evaded by someone highly skilled. So even if he had kept his window locked, filled to the brim with alarms, it would not have made the task of breaking into his apartment that much harder for the technically deceased Obito Uchiha. The window being open was just a bonus, as soon as he was sure it wasn't some clever ruse that allowed for alarms he did not foresee. The boy obviously had some talent, but he was still too dull to be deadly.

So, quietly entering the room to avoid waking up his target, Obito expertly stuck the paralytic laced senbon into Naruto's neck. He had made sure to use a large dose on the boy, since he had a strong immune system because of the Kyuubi. It was simply making his sleep deeper, so that he could get many hours from Konoha before the boy awoke. Obito knew he would struggle and try to escape his fate, but Obito would not make the same mistake twice. Just like he would never trust Kakashi Hatake with someone important, he would not let the Kyuubi container escape from his grasps again. He would take him to the site at the Land of Rivers, and the beast would be his. Obito couldn't wait.

…

Almost 9 hours later, when the sun was high but not as high as it could be, Naruto Uzumaki woke up to the smell of nature. At first he assumed it was because of his open window, but then he realized he was moving. Naruto knew that didn't make sense, so his eyes shot open to forest all around him.

Naruto began to look around frantically, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He quickly realized he was being carried under the left arm of a man with an orange mask and black cloak with red clouds on it.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto bluntly asked, beginning to struggle underneath his arm. He realized he had his hands tied together under him, but his legs were free.

The orange mask was now facing Naruto."I see, you're up. Well, I expected you to awake soon enough. Call me Tobi." The man told him.

"Okay Tobi, why the hell am I tied up? Where are we?" Naruto was squirming but wasn't making much progress.

He heard a short chuckle behind the mask. "That doesn't matter. Just stay quiet, and nothing will happen to you."

Naruto looked at him like he was insane. "What the hell are you talking about? I know what you are! You are a kidnapper! But why would you kidnap me? I don't have any parents who can pay the ransom." Naruto was hoping the man would let him go when he found this out.

Tobi shook his head. "Akatsuki does not care in the least about a ransom for you. You have something far more valuable than money within you. But don't worry, you won't have to worry about it for much longer."

Naruto didn't like the sound of that. With an idea of how to escape taken from his experiences with his sensei Iruka, he put his plan into action. He threw his momentum fully downwards so his head was pointing almost directly at the ground. With a few violent shifts, Naruto slid from the non iron tight grip of Tobi. Naruto immediately rolled as he fell, quickly ending up on his feet. Without even looking back at Tobi, Naruto ran back the way he came. He didn't know what this Tobi guy wanted, but he wasn't going to give it to him!

Tobi let out a sigh, and quickly caught up to Naruto and landed in front of him. With his exposed eye, Tobi activated his Sharingan and put Naruto in an advanced genjutsu that would put him into ease and be an easy carry for a while. He knew the genjutsu would eventually fade because of how it worked, but he would deal with it once it came. In just a few days, the task he started almost twelve years before would be finished and the first step of the Moon Eye Plan would be in place. And there was nothing in this world that could stop him.

…

Him and his big mouth. He had jinxed himself, and now he was dying again, and Madara was not around to save him. It was inevitable, they realized that someone would have to enter his mindscape for the final steps of extraction. But they hadn't expected Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki to be their, protecting their son from him. So while Obito was forced to fight off his sensei and his wife, Akatsuki was able to complete the task of extracting the Kyuubi. But it all came at a personal price.

Somehow, in their last moments, they figured out how to counter his Kamui perfectly, with Kushina holding him down with her chains and his sensei delivering a fatal blow with a Rasengan. It was odd, facing death a second time. He found his regrets magnified, but he was more at peace with the fact.

He now had to trust Zetsu with completing the plan, but at least the first task was done. Zetsu understood the plan better than himself, so Madara's dream would become a reality. And at least he would get to see Rin again shortly.

His head fell sideways, facing the body of Naruto Uzumaki. To his mild surprise, he saw the boy's chest still rising and falling. Then again, Obito thought to himself, his mother did survive her extraction for some time before succumbing to the strain on her body. The boy would likely do the same As thought faded from him, Obito assured himself that Naruto Uzumaki would be following him to Kami shortly.

Obito Uchiha had a bad habit of underestimating an Uzumaki.


	2. Finding Uzumaki

"Look, it has only been in the last week. Any kids out of place, at least ten. Thin, blue eyes, make up or weird marks on the cheeks. If any of your shinobi have seen a kid like that, the Hokage would be most pleased Magashi-sama."

Genma Shiranui was growing displeased with the lack of success he was getting on this mission. He knew he wasn't alone on it, as out of the corner of his eye one of his teammates, Anko Mitarashi, was getting antsy. It was not a good thing for her to be getting antsy.

"I understand Shiranui-san. But I have not heard back from any of my shinobi about such a boy being seen, let alone a boy who appeared to be kidnapped in the area."

The man Genma was speaking to was Katsuro Magashi, the leader of Tanigakure. Tani was located in the center of the Land of Rivers, just south of the Land of Fire and between Konoha and Suna. Konoha and Tani were allies, but didn't speak too often. They allowed them and Suna to cut through, and they promised not to invade and to protect Tani if the other broke this agreement. But now Genma was wishing the Hokage had decided to have more contact with Tanigakure and their leader Magashi. They would have a better rapport, and this would be an easier job, and Anko didn't look like she was going to erupt like a Jiraiya nosebleed.

"I understand, Magashi-sama. I simply hope you understand our desire to find him, and his kidnappers. It is disconcerting that anyone could waltz into our village, kidnap a prospective shinobi such as Uzumaki, and escape fully undetected."

The Hokage had been furious. Genma, Anko, Hidashi Hyuga, and Akane Sozuki were one of a dozen full teams being sent to scour nearby nations to find Naruto Uzumaki. Beside his value as the container of the Kyuubi and what that could mean in the wrong hands, the Hokage was fond of the boy and did not want to see harm come of him. But it was definitely the first thing that could justify the minimum of fifty shinobi on the case.

Magashi nodded. "Indeed, it would be concerning if a missing nin could enter our village and kidnap one of our academy students and escape. For it to happen to Konoha... that is very concerning. Do you know why the boy was targeted? Was he a prodigy, or had famous parents? You said his name was Naruto Uzumaki, is he descended from the Uzushiogakure clan?" He speculated on why the boy was targeted.

Anko finally got tired of being quite and fibbed for them. "I don't know about him being a part of any clan, but he wasn't any prodigy. I know his sensei, and I know for a fact the kid is a dead-last. Kid only has three S's that make him special."

"Three S's?" Magashi was intrigued.

Anko counted them out on her fingers. "Speed, stealth, and stubborn. He can outrun shinobi when he pranks them, hides from them with skill, and is too stubborn to quit when it would be smart to. That is good and all to have, but he ain't got too much skill or smarts. My guess why he got nabbed? Kid is close to the Hokage, probably cause all the times he went in to get punished for his pranks. The nin must of thought they could milk him for information."

Magashi totally forgot about his original theories and was intrigued. "Get information? Would he know anything of value?"

She shrugged. "Don't know, but doubt it. Anyway, those 3 S's will help the kid here if he can use them. Too stubborn to break, too fast to catch if he can run, and can hide real well if they are faster." Anko let out a chuckle. "Kid could probably be great for infiltration if he wasn't such a brat."

Genma agreed with her. "Definitely sounds like it." He looked up to the wall and at the time, realizing it was 5 after 3 p.m. Hidashi and Akane should have been back from their questioning of civilians in the area already. He turned to Magashi. "I apologize Magashi-sama. Anko-san and myself should be getting going to find our teammates."

Magashi nodded in understanding. "Of course. We will be sure to keep an extra eye out for this boy. When will you be back to check in?"

Before either Anko and Genma could speak up, the door to the village head's office was swung violently open. All three shinobi in the room were quick to look at the culprit, which was a random shinobi from Tanigakure. He quickly stood straight.

"Report for Magashi-sama and the Konoha shinobi. We believe the boy Konoha is searching for, Naruto Uzumaki, is here in the village. He just arrived three minutes ago with a local farmer." He reported succinctly to the trio. Anko and Genma quickly were looking at each other. They hadn't expected to be the ones to actually find the boy, but this was a pleasant surprise.

…

Soon, the two met with their two teammates who were already inspecting a blonde boy who looked like Naruto Uzumaki who was wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it five sizes too big for him and had an orange mask in his right hand. Hidashi Hyuga had his Byakugan activated and saw Anko and Genma come close, so he turned to them.

"I see nothing that would suggest this is not Naruto Uzumaki. Do you agree Akane-chan?" He turned to his teammate.

The young women with short black hair, wearing a very standard navy blue combo/chunin vest only made unique by the sword she had on her hip agreed with the Hyuga. "Yeah, I have to agree. I think we have the real Naruto Uzumaki with us."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "That is what I've been telling you guys! Why wouldn't you believe me?"

Genma took control of the situation. "Standard practice. Wouldn't be the first time someone kidnapped someone, took their form, and used it to sneak into a village." Naruto's eyes went wide at that information, since it was new to him. "Anyway, did you tell them where you got the cloak yet, or why you are wearing it?"

Naruto shook his head, but was blushing. "Well...um... well when the guy grabbed me..." Naruto was struggling to admit this info. "Well, I only had on my boxers. So when I woke up yesterday, I needed something to wear. So I grabbed this."

Anko raised an eyebrow. "Wait, are you saying you were asleep for five days?"

"Five days! What are you talking about?" Naruto wondered in surprise.

Genma let out a sigh, and dug into his pocket. "Kid, you've been missing for almost a week. I really hope you weren't asleep the entire time." He stuck the senbon he had grabbed in his mouth.

Naruto shook his head. "No, I remember a few things that was over the first...days I guess? Then I woke up around sunset yesterday."

Anko nodded. "Alright, I buy that. So you stole this cloak from the guy's laundry and hauled ass out of where he was holding you?"

Naruto shook his head. Now he looked uncomfortable. Anko eye's then went to the mask. "And is that his as well?" She asked, pointing to it. Naruto looked down to it before nodding, not looking at her. Now the team knew this situation was more complicated than at first glance.

Genma took control. "Alright, Hidashi-san, purchase Uzumaki some shorts and a T-shirt so he can wear something besides the cloak. Akane-chan, call the hawk down and jot the message." He ordered the two to do those tasks, while Anko instinctively broke up the crowd and asked for privacy since this was 'Konoha business.' Fortunately the Hokage had thought to send a hawk to come with each team to as communication with him and if they had found Naruto. It was simply flying overhead, waiting for this moment. Genma bent over a little so he could talk face to face to Naruto.

"Alright, so my name is Genma, the purple hair woman is Anko, the black hair swords-girl is Akane, and the Hyuga is named Hidashi. And I promise we will get you safe back to Konoha, and find out what the hell happened to you."

"I know what the guy wanted." Naruto interjected quickly.

Genma played it cool, but thought this was a big break. "Great. Now, what did the guy say?"

Naruto took a second to clear the fog and remember what had happened. "I think it was the morning after he grabbed me. He told me his name was Tobi, and that he was a part of something called... Akatsuki? Yeah, Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki? Haven't heard about them." Genma noted aloud.

"Well, he said that. And he said he wanted me because there was something valuable within me. But Tobi said not to worry, since I wouldn't have to worry about it much longer. I didn't like how that sounded, so I tried to run. But he caught up with me, and did some weird jutsu with his eye. They were red with black things on them. I don't remember what happened next."

Genma was worried. Very worried. This was clearly about the Kyuubi, and it was a Sharingan user. But the mask made it seem like it wasn't Itachi Uchiha, the only known missing-nin with Sharingan. The mask... Genma grabbed it from the boy and looked at it. It was orange, and had spiral that came to the one eye hole. Almost unconsciously, he noted it was the opposite eye that Kakashi had gotten from Obito back in the war. He didn't like where that thought was taking him.

Genma asked Naruto to give him a second, handing back the mask before turning to Akane and Anko. "Akane-chan, give the message to Anko-san. Anko-san, over here." He ushered her over to a vacant space nearby.

"What did the kid say?" She asked, wondering what this was all about.

"The guy called himself Tobi, he was part of a group called Akatsuki, and unless I'm wrong they want or wanted the Kyuubi." Genma relayed the info back to Anko.

"They told him about the fox?" She asked.

"No, but it was obvious from what they said. And considering how long the kid was out... they might have gotten it for all we know." Genma gave her his theory.

Anko let out a long sigh. "How could it get worse?"

"Tobi probably had a Sharingan. And considering I don't think Itachi is the kind of guy who would wear a mask and call himself Tobi, I think we have someone like Kakashi or maybe even an Uchiha we didn't know was still alive." Genma made it worse.

"Fuck. This really fucking sucks." Anko punctuated her distaste with her language.

"Yeah, and I need you to put that into the message. I'm gonna try to get some more info. Then our best bet is to send you and Hidashi-san out to try and find where he was while me and Akane-chan get him back home so we can figure out what the hell to do next."

Anko reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, probably is the best bet. I'll add on to the message, you make sure the brat is good." With that she turned away to begin writing the code to the Hokage and Genma began talking with Naruto again.

"Right, so, I'm going to be sending Hidashi-san and Anko-san to try and find out more about where you were taken by Tobi. Can you give us any help?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it isn't that far from a river that is almost dry. I followed it to find a town. And I woke up in some cave. It was a really big room. And the only other thing is... Tobi's dead back there."

"Tobi, your kidnapper, is dead?" Genma did not like this new twist to the story. And judging from the corner of his eye, neither did Anko as she was writing out the message.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I checked and he was cold and didn't have a heartbeat. I actually had to take the cloak...off of his body. I took the mask... because I wanted proof. In case something happened, I wanted real proof that someone took me." He was wearing a grim expression.

"Why do you think you needed proof?" Genma asked, wondering how anyone would believe otherwise.

Naruto looked uncomfortable again, but he explained. "Some...jerks have been telling me to run away and leave since I'm not good enough to be a ninja. I don't want them to think I would actually listen to them, so I wanted proof."

Genma bit harder down on his senbon to show his external displeasure with Naruto's treatment. He was just a kid that Minato had trusted to be a hero and keep the Kyuubi at bay. And now that some freaks kidnapped him and maybe stole the Kyuubi, he was worrying about them calling him a coward or even a traitor. He remembered how hard going it was as an orphan, and it must have between much harder on Uzumaki.

Genma gave him a smile. "Well, those people aren't your friends, so you shouldn't bother with them. Let them say whatever they want, but you should take it in stride. They don't know you, or what you can do. I know guys who started off as mediocre, but now are some of the strongest ninjas in the village."

Naruto responded with a nod. "They sound pretty cool." Naruto told Genma.

Genma, who had been thinking about his old teammate Might Gai when he said that, almost laughed out loud. "Well, he is cool in his own way." He admitted about his very youthful friend.

Hidashi soon came back with an orange t-shirt, a black pair of pants, and sandals. Naruto's eyes lit up at the shirt, and Genma nearly face palmed. He looked at Hidashi who explained. "The store clerk was quite understanding of Uzumaki-san's predicament, and threw in the shirt for free with the pants and sandals."

"And you know that orange is the best color ever, right! You're awesome Hidashi-san!" Naruto praised the guy before looking around. "Umm, where can I change?"

Genma looked around and realized Naruto would look odd if he got dressed in the middle of the street. A simple answer came to mind. "Anko-san, tell Hidashi-san the plan and start it. Akane-chan, send the hawk and meet me at the Village Head's office. Naruto-san, you can change in the bathroom there. Move out." And with that, Anko handed the message to Akane, who affirmed her orders with a clear 'Yes Genma-sensei!' as Anko left the village with Hidashi, explaining the plan.

Naruto was struggling not to trip over the cloak, as Genma had another question. "So, you wake up, raid Tobi for clothes and proof, climb out of the cave, and follow the river to a town. What was your plan, and how did you end up in Tanigakure?"

"Well, I was just looking for a village to find out where I was, since I remembered Tobi had taken me far away from the village. From there, I would have found out where Konoha was. Then, I guess I would have looked for villages as I got closer to make sure I was going the right way. I would be hoping I met someone so it would be easier, but I would have gotten their eventually." Naruto explained his thinking.

"So what changed?"

Naruto shrugged. "The first town told where I was, and that it would probably be quicker to travel to Tanigakure and have them send a hawk to Konoha to get me. The farmer I came with was trying to sell some milk and butter here before it spoiled, so he made good time."

Genma nodded. "You were lucky kid. 15 minutes longer and we would have headed further west to look for you. We would have come back in a day or two, but that would have just been waiting for you."

Naruto had a new question in his head. "So, how did Konoha find out I was in the Land of Rivers anyhow?"

Genma shook his head. "We didn't. The Hokage sent about a dozen teams every which way to try and find you."

"A dozen teams! Why did he send so many?" Naruto couldn't believe the Old Man had sent so many shinobi after him, and that so many of them wanted to find him.

Genma wasn't sure what to say, so he delayed it until he had a better answer. "Now isn't the time to talk about it. Now, after me and Akane-chan say our thanks to Magashi-sama for helping us in our search, we 3 are headed home."

"Where did Hidashi-san and the purple haired chick go?" Naruto forgot the name of the woman.

"First rule about Anko-san never call her 'chick', I think it triggers her sadistic instinct. It isn't pretty. Remember, Anko-san. Secondly, they are going to follow your trail back to the cave. They are going to look for more evidence about Akatsuki and picking up Tobi's remains. Which reminds me, give me the mask so I can hold on to it. You don't have pockets, and you carrying it the whole way back will only tire out your hand." With a nod of understanding, Naruto handed over the mask that Genma quickly slipped into his mission pack. They were soon at the building of the office, and waited a moment for Akane to catch up. Genma showed Naruto the bathroom he could change in and he and Akane gave their thanks and good-byes to Magashi. About five minutes later, Naruto was dressed in proper garb and wearing the cloak open style over his clothes.

"That is kinda cool." Akane noted about Naruto's change. She was just old enough to know the truth about the Kyuubi, but had a family that trusted fully in the Yondaime. So she always thought of Naruto as just a kid. Her support was a nice sensation for him.

Genma rose an eyebrow, but decided to leave it be. If the boy hadn't been wearing it since the night before he would want to better preserve it for evidence. But after almost 24 hours of wear, its had been tainted. On that note...

"Naruto, is there anything else you might need clothing wise before we go. Like anything you wear under your clothes?" Genma hoped he got the hint. He'd been wearing them a week!

Naruto shook his head. "No, Hidashi-san got me a full wardrobe for my needs." He began walking by Genma when he whispered. "I tossed the old ones." He continued to walk out the door, with Akane and Genma following. Genma almost let out a chuckle at that one, wondering about the poor janitor who was going to find a pair of pre-teen boxers in the trash can and be confused as hell.

…

Naruto, Genma, and Akane spent the next five hours forest-hopping and had already found themselves back in the Land of Fire. They continued on until the last light from the sunset was all that was left, when Genma called for them to stop and rest for the night in a nearby spot that was a popular camping point for Konoha shinobi. He also wanted to stop for a very obvious issue.

"Hey, Akane-chan, you still carry dried fruit with you?" Genma asked his subordinate.

She nodded. "Yeah, Genma-sensei. Do you want some?"

He shook his head before directing his attention to Naruto. "No, but this kid has had his stomach grumbling loud for a while now." He looked directly at Naruto. "If you are starving or something, you should tell us. I doubt the guys who took you fed you much."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, the only thing I remember eating since I left are some eggs and rice I got in the village I found. I didn't want to say anything since I didn't want to be a bother."

Akane was digging through her bag. "Look Uzumaki-san, you have been through a lot. Asking for some food when you haven't eaten anything for days isn't anything big. Just one meal after skipping so many won't do you any good. In fact, I'm shocked you could keep up with us with so little on your stomach." She pulled out a plastic bag filled with raisins, dried apple pieces and other dried fruit. She handed it to him. "Now eat that and the ration bars Genma are carrying. They taste kinda like stale bread but they will keep you running."

Naruto nodded. "Thank you Akane-san. And I still feel fine. This isn't the first time I didn't have food for a few days. Teaches me about buying a bunch of ramen every day of the week." Naruto joked about his past experience with being hungry. The money he got from the Hokage only went so far.

Genma pulled 3 ration bars out of his bag and handed Akane and Naruto one a piece. "Alright then, eat up and then we should head to sleep. We want an early start for Konoha tomorrow, so I'll take first watch. Alright Akane-chan." She nodded in agreement, and the trio began eating their meals.

There was some small talk over eating mainly by Naruto who wanted to know more about what it was like being a ninja. He also asked why Genma called Akane chan and Akane calling him sensei. As it turned out, she was a part of the genin team Genma had taken over 5 years before. Naruto also learned about more of the darker aspects of being a shinobi, and about loss.

One of her teammates was an Uchiha whowas killed about a year after the team was formed because of the traitorous Itachi Uchiha. The other member of the team had been part of a minor clan and had been really good. Good enough to get into ANBU after only 4 years of service. But not good enough to keep himself alive against an A-Rank missing-nin on his second mission. Now Team Two, aka Team Genma, was just Genma and Akane. They only occasionally had missions together, but there was an unshakeable bond after spending years teaching and learning from one another. Naruto wished he and his sensei would have that kind of bond.

Not long after the talking ended, they went to sleep. Their conditions were spartan but it was a warm summer night in the Land of Fire, so there was no need to bundle up. Naruto found himself using the folded-up cloak as a pillow for his head, and was trying to fall asleep. But he couldn't. There was something gnawing at him, something he wanted to know. Something he thought a certain person could tell him.

Genma could easily tell Naruto was walking up to him, barely visible from camp on his patrol. He slowed down his patrol, confident the area was safe for the moment, to let Naruto catch up to him.

"Hey Genma-san. Can I ask you a question?" Naruto looked up to him earnestly.

"Well, yeah you just did. But I'll be nice and let you ask another." Genma made a little joke to try and relieve Naruto's tension a bit, but he could tell what was coming.

"Do you know what was so important that Tobi kidnapped me? Or why the Old Man would send so many people to find me. I know a lot of people don't really like me, so it doesn't make sense why I'm so important all of a sudden." Naruto revealed his inner thoughts.

'Now is as good a time as any to find out for sure.' Genma thought to himself. "Naruto-san, I need you to trust me for a second, and lift up your shirt. Then, gather some chakra."

"What?"

"Look, it is important you do this. I need to see something. Trust me, it will help me answer your question." Genma began to focus and take advantage of his elemental chakra manipulation training, summon a bright but non-dangerous flame into his hands.

Naruto didn't look to sure, but he followed what Genma was saying. He lifted his shirt up, tucked the scrunched up sides under his arms, and put his hands together to gather some chakra. Blue swirls began to form around Naruto as his massive energy revealed itself in this basic exercise, but something even more important failed to reveal itself.

Genma let the flames extinguish, seeing what he needed and really hadn't wanted to see. Nothing. Nothing was on Naruto's stomach. He knew about how the seal had worked, and he should have seen it. Which meant only one thing. Genma let out a real long sigh.

"Cover yourself, this is gonna be a hassle to explain." Naruto quickly let his shirt drop as his attention remained focused on Genma. "First off, what I'm about to tell you was something you remembered Tobi revealing to you after we left Tani. Because if I'm the one who tells you...well that could mean the Hokage could give me death for breaking the law."

"Breaking the law? What could be that important?" Naruto wasn't sure if he wanted to know this.

"Remember, Tobi said this. Not me. He told you that the Yondaime was unable to actually kill the Kyuubi when he fought it, but he did the next best thing. He sealed the monster into a baby boy born that very night, a boy who was supposed to be seen as the Hero of Konoha. But as you have know full well, that didn't happen."

Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion before his eyes went wide in understanding. "The baby was me?"

Genma nodded. "Yeah, but bad feelings were bad feelings. And the Kyuubi had just created a lot of bad feelings in Konoha. So to try and help, the Hokage made a rule that banned people talking about the truth. I guessed it helped some, cause I have heard from a few people you usually run with a crew of clan heirs. Nara, Akimichi, and Inuzuka, right?"

Naruto nodded, they were his friends, even if they weren't that close in reality. He was a loner, more than he wanted to admit. "So, I was supposed to be a hero... but people just what? Don't like me instead?"

"Well, pretty much. Some people think that you are just the Kyuubi with amnesia, or you are influenced by it, or stupid stuff like that. They admire Minato all day and night, but don't trust his greatest achievement. Typical." Genma rolled his eyes at their logic.

"So, the Kyuubi is inside me right now? Like, in my stomach or something?" Naruto asked, looking at his body in amazement. This was keeping that monster away from Konoha. He was awesome!

"Well, that is the problem. Because, from what I just saw, it isn't in you anymore." Genma told him.

Naruto froze. "What do you mean, it isn't in me anymore?"

"Just that. From what I can tell, this Akatsuki group must of wanted the Kyuubi for themselves. So they kidnap you and take the Kyuubi out of you. But that must have been hard, since Minato's seal was so expertly made. I bet that is what killed Tobi, there is no way Minato would have had no safeguards on something like that." Genma began to muse to himself.

"So, I don't have it in me anymore How do you know that for sure?" Naruto asked, very worried.

"Well, I can't be 100%, but I know you are suppose to have a seal on your stomach that can be seen when you use chakra. And when I checked just now, it didn't show. We are gonna have to get it checked with the Hokage, but it is safe bet that Akatsuki has the Kyuubi. And that does not sound like a good thing."

"So what can I do? I have trouble passing the graduation exam!" In Naruto's mind, the Kyuubi was put into him so he could be a hero from Konoha and keep a monster locked away. And he should try to make sure the monster stayed locked away, and not with some bad guys.

Genma shrugged. "Work harder. Train more. Let strong guys like me go after Akatsuki while you learn how to be strong. It is a lot harder than it seems." He gave some practical advice to him.

"You're a strong guy? How strong are you? You kinda remind me of Shikamaru, you both seem lazy." Naruto admitted.

Genma waved it off. "That is just Nara blood. Makes you lazy. As for me, I'm cool, calm and collected because I know I'm good. You may not believe it, but the Yondaime himself made me one of his bodyguards when he was Hokage. And I still am a bodyguard for the Sandaime from time to time."

"No way, for the Yondaime! What kind of jutsu can you do?" Naruto was impressed by this new fact from his new acquaintance.

"All kinds. Some genjutsu, some fire jutsu, some water jutsu, a couple wind jutsu. But the jutsu I'm most proud of knowing is one Minato showed me. His famous Hiraishin."

"You know the jutsu that made the Yondaime the 'Yellow Flash!'" Naruto was now in awe.

"Yes I do, but it is a lot harder than you would think. I don't get how the Yondaime could do it so easily, since I STILL can't do it alone. I need the two other people Minato taught it to me with in order to do it. You have to be incredible in order to use it solo."

"Can you teach it to me?"

Genma was startled. "Wait, you want me to teach it to you?"

"Well duh!" Naruto made it sound like the most obvious thing in the world. Which, upon reflection, it was. "I mean, I want to be an incredible ninja and become Hokage! And learning the move that my hero legendary would be a great step in doing that. It may be a lot of work, but I know I can do it! So come on Genma-san, please teach me!"

"Well, you aren't the first person to ask me that. Heck, Akane-chan asked me for years before she gave up. Why should I teach you and not her?"

Genma had expected a quick and frenetic response. Instead, Naruto took his time to think. That was a first good sign. Then, firmly, he told Genma his reasoning.

"The Yondaime, the greatest Hokage of all time, wanted me to be a hero for the village. But I couldn't do it. I wasn't strong enough. And now some bastards have the Kyuubi somehow, and I don't think the kind of people who kidnap kids in their boxers in the middle of the night are the good guys. So I need to be strong enough. I need to be the hero like the Yondaime thought I could be. I don't know why he chose me but I can't let him down." The look in Naruto's eye when he looked up at Genma during the last sentence gave Genma pause. And, if he was right, meant that the Sandaime had a few questions he needed to answer. It would be troublesome, but he agreed with the kid.

"Alright, I'll teach the Hiraishin. But not until you get a headband that proves you are ready to be a ninja. You are going to have to learn a few things on the way, but as long as you work really hard, you'll be flashing around the battlefield like Minato in no time."

If it wasn't for the fact that Naruto was actually tired from his long day, his celebration would have been much more exuberant. Genma cracked a smile, it looked like the kid had won the lottery.

"Now, from now until you graduate, I need to start studying the basics in fuinjutsu. The academy doesn't say much on the subject, so you are going to have to go to the library for this. IF you don't get fuinjutsu, you will never get the Hiraishin." Genma told him.

"What's fuinjutsu?" Naruto cocked his head, ignorant to the term.

Genma resisted the urge to face palm. This would be harder than expected. But it would be worth it, if not to keep Minato's dream alive of Naruto being a hero, then to see the faces of Iwa shinobi when there is a new blue-eyed blonde haired Konoha shinobi that knows Hiraishin.

* * *

Alright, so here is the first full chapter of Naruto: Extracted, which I hope you all enjoyed. So yes, this Naruto is going to be learning Hiraishin fairly early into his ninja career. He will be a bit more like Minato in this regard, but that won't be his only shtick. Others will come.

Future story plans have been removed 9/28/17

Teaser for next chapter: The village learns of the loss of the Kyuubi within Naruto, we gain information from Akatsuki, learn about what happened to the body of 'Tobi' and a surprising decision by Naruto!


	3. Everyone Knows

Chapter 3 is here, I hope you all like it.

I just want to address one thing I am seeing in the comments now, mainly about how I will compensate Naruto losing the Kyuubi and how he needs a god-tier boost. The thing is, Kishimoto got a bit ridiculous at the end of Naruto involving power levels, Kaguya being a prime example that seemed to me like Kishimoto following through on the mythological background he created in Naruto.

Long story short, Naruto nor anyone else will be getting as strong as we saw in the end of the manga, since it isn't needed. I'm not saying that Naruto won't be incredibly powerful and dangerous to all shinobi, but I don't want to go the route of Toriyama who had to create 5 additional levels or so to Super Saiyan in order to keep making the stakes bigger.

If you don't like that, then I advise you find other fanfiction to quench your thirst. But if you do like the sound of Naruto staying more grounded, then let's get to the story.

…..

The last of the shinobi were quickly ushered into the room by Kotetsu and Izumo who were acting as guards for the door to make sure only invited individuals were allowed in. It was an extensive list with representatives for 12 of the 13 major clans of Konoha save the Uchiha, some of the top jounin in the village, the intelligence division, a significant swathe of masked ANBU operatives (with a few of them suspect for having non-traditional designs for their masks), and the elders of Konoha. The duo acting as doormen quickly realized they were by far the lowest ranked individuals in the room, and that this meeting of nearly 80 top individuals was of the utmost importance to the village.

ANBU stood on the side of the walls while the Intelligence division were located near the front of room along with the elders. The clan heads and jounin were located in the middle, and the buzz of the room was on one topic.

Naruto Uzumaki.

About 8 days before, the boy had gone missing without a trace. There was no indication of him leaving on his own, and no trail that he could have left beyond that he was last in his apartment. Despite his known skills, it was quickly apparent that he had been taken from the village, and a large manhunt was on. A dozen full teams quickly left the village in search of Naruto, while another dozen searched the village itself for the boy.

Rumors had been abound about what happened to the boy. Civilians who became aware of his absence believed he escaped with the help of the demon inside of him, though shinobi did not believe this for a second as the tell-tale sign of demonic chakra was nowhere to be found. Others suspected murder, that the boy had been disposed of by individuals who were clever enough to get around village security and hide his body. This led to fears about the long-term consequences involving the Kyuubi. Others assumed another hidden village had kidnapped the boy after discovering his status as a demon container, no doubt pried out of the lips of one of the dozens of missing nin Konoha had shamefully produced in the last decade.

There was the famous ruckus between the Hokage and Danzo, in which it appeared the wise leader suspected his elder for being involved in the boy's disappearance. It had been dismissed as a misunderstanding and that the Sandaime held no beliefs of Danzo's involvement in Naruto's absence, but those in the know knew about ROOT and its feasibility. Three spies were publicly discovered and denounced, but nothing came out from this event. A few academy students seemed to have been quite aware of the boy's absence and asked questions about it. What was notable was that all 5 students were all children of heirs and heiresses of major clans, which created a few theories about them being linked.

Still, Naruto Uzumaki's disappearance had abruptly ended two days before when a team was announced to have found the boy in the Land of Rivers. The teams were recalled, of which about half had returned already, and the boy had re-entered Konoha in the late afternoon the day before. There were a few witnesses to his re-entry, and their was more talk about the odd black and red cloak he had been wearing.

And then, nothing. There was no new news since the day before except there would be a meeting the next day. Everyone was hoping that this meeting would clarify the truth. Finally, as the clock struck 10 a.m., the time the meeting was announced for, the Sandaime Hokage entered the room from a separate entrance then the one the chunin guards were at and took to the podium in the front of the room. Behind him, to the surprise of the room, followed the Sannin Jiraiya. The room had questions, but they all knew it was the Hokage's floor. He stood there for a moment to make sure everyone had their attention on him before speaking.

"There is no easy way to say this, so I must say it plainly. Naruto Uzumaki was kidnapped from our village eight days ago by a group of missing-nin called Akatsuki with the express purpose of extracting the Kyuubi from within him. They succeeded." The Hokage tried to keep his composure as he said this, but those who kept calm from his announcement saw how shaken he was from this announcement.

Obvious unrest was seen throughout the crowd, but no one spoke up. They wanted to hear what else the Hokage had to say about the experience.

The Hokage saw the crowd was waiting for him to speak and acquiesced. "The man who kidnapped him has only been identified as a man named Tobi, but Naruto-kun reported to the team that found him that he was dead upon him waking up from a slumber they forced upon him. We suspect it was during this time the Kyuubi was extracted and that this extraction proved fatal to the man named Tobi, but have no evidence for this fact. The group that was sent to investigate the location where the likely extraction occurred has not returned as of this moment." The Hokage had decided to hold back on any information regarding the Sharingan, as it was not conclusive and needed more information.

"Jiraiya here has also given me confirmation on information that he had previously disclosed to me. Currently, he is aware of four individuals who have been associated with Akatsuki. The first is Orochimaru, who was eventually forced out after a failed attempt on the life of the second individual, Itachi Uchiha. The third and fourth individuals are Sasori of the Red Sands, Orochimaru's former partner and Kisame Hoshigake, Itachi's current partner. We were not aware of their activities beyond acting as mercenaries, but in light of the recent event we suspect they will attempt to extract all the tailed beast in the Elemental Nations for their own purposes." The Hokage let the information sink in, reading the room. More than a few individuals were unnerved, and the ANBU were on edge.

"Jiraiya has also inspected Naruto Uzumaki for any traces of the seal or demonic chakra and has found him clean of all remnants of the seal or the chakra involving the Kyuubi. Meaning in no way is Naruto Uzumaki the container of the Kyuubi any longer. He is aware of this fact and has asked me, and I have agreed to rescind my prior law in regards to the Kyuubi. In fact, Naruto-kun urged me to end the law so that the truth was in the open. He feels that knowing the Kyuubi is still alive and in enemy's hands is essential for all shinobi and civilians to know, which I agree with. However, I am declaring today that any purposeful misinformation in regards of his status as a former container or the current whereabouts of the Kyuubi will be met with severe punishment." The Hokage looked around the room and the crowd. "Dismissed."

With that last statement, Sarutobi left through the room he entered from as the top shinobi of the village reflected on this new reality of Konoha.

…

Not long after the meeting, Genma entered the office of the Hokage. The information about what the meeting was about was slowly spreading, and he knew it would reach a fever pitch through out the day. So he wanted the discussion with the Hokage to come before the rush.

"Genma-kun, how are you doing today?" Sarutobi was happy to see the man who had found Naruto, and in general a trustworthy shinobi, so soon after the heavy meeting he just announced.

Genma bowed. "Fine Hokage-sama. I wanted to know if you have heard anything from Anko-chan or Hidashi-san yet from their investigation of the cave?" He eased into the discussion.

Sarutobi shook his head. "No, not yet though I suspect them to arrive later today. I have sent a secondary unit to help better investigate the area. As good as those two may be in tracking, it is of the utmost importance we have the best on this case."

Genma agreed. "I agree sir. The thought that anyone could sneak into the village and kidnap one of our shinobi, especially one with Naruto's protection importance, is quite disturbing." He waited for the nod to hit the Hokage with a big blow. "To allow the son of the Fourth Yondaime to be kidnapped, what a disgrace for our abilities, is it not?"

Sarutobi froze for a moment before letting out a sigh. "So, you realized it Genma-kun. What gave it away?"

"The way the kid talked about his duty, and not knowing why he was chosen. It reminded me of Minato, and made me realize that he would have used his own son. The son we believed dead. Given his looks, I knew it had to be true." Genma explained to his boss.

"Then you know why we kept it a secret?" Sarutobi asked back.

Genma nodded. "Obviously. When I saw the Tsuchikage last year during our merchant escort mission he still had a bad grudge against me and I just fought a fraction of the shinobi Minato fought. If he found out about Naruto, he would do something stupid for sure."

Sarutobi nodded. "Indeed. The only problem is when I should tell the boy, or Jiraiya for that matter. I am an old man, and who knows if I will still be around when he is ready?" He mused about his age.

"You do deserve a real retirement, Hokage-sama. Is Jiraiya-sama or even Kakashi not a viable replacement?" Genma asked.

"I mentioned it to Jiraiya-kun after he inspected Naruto yesterday and he told me never in a million years. And Kakashi-san is not interested in the responsibility either. The few who are truly interested are too young, supposed to be dead, or as old as I am. In other villages, you would have swathes of men wanting to become kage. I guess I have been in charge so long, shinobi could not imagine anyone else." Sarutobi admitted to his subordinate.

Genma couldn't help but be surprised to realize how true this was. No one in his age group really wanted to be Hokage, they just wanted to do their own thing. And the stabilizing force of the Sandaime was probably a large factor in that. "Well, I'm sure a successor will be found soon. You will have more time to paint, that's for sure." Genma mentioned the Hokage's favorite pasttime.

"Indeed I will, indeed I will. But my hobbies are not what we are discussing, but the future of Naruto-kun. How he grows and adapts to this new wrinkle from fate should be entertaining, to say the least."

Genma decided it was time to tell the Hokage of his promise. "Well, I have already told him that once he becomes genin, I will teach him the Hiraishin no Jutsu. Probably will get Raido to help me, just to be safe."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "Really, now?"

Genma nodded. "Well, it is the kid's legacy and will help him on his goal to become Hokage. I decided it right before I realized who he was, funny enough. I know I technically don't have to tell you about jutsu I teach other people, but I thought it made sense in this case."

Sarutobi paused before smiling. "Indeed, it was wise for you to tell me. It might be a risk considering Iwa, but I'm certain a Konoha shinobi teaching another shinobi a jutsu is nothing sinister. And it would be good for him to use his heritage as an Uzumaki to become good with seals."

"Though considering his grades, it might take a while." Genma was quick to point out, a half-grin on his face.

Sarutobi nodded. "That may work to his favor. Jiraiya was similarly poor in school but he thrived in fuinjutsu. We will see, Genma-kun, we will see."

…

Shikamaru Nara listened carefully to his father's explanation of the events that had transpired with Naruto. He listened to the end of his father's rather long talk before taking a minute to digest the information. There was only one word that came to mind.

"Troublesome."

This explained why there had always seemed to be an unease around Naruto, and his boundless energy. It also explained something that he didn't know had been bugging him until it was answered, about how exactly did the Yondaime kill the Kyuubi. It made more sense that he hadn't. It had been sealed, and now it was sealed elsewhere.

And now there was this group called Akatsuki who had some of the most infamous missing-nin in the world as members who now controlled the Kyuubi. That was frightening. He cringed at the thought of it, but there was only one answer about what to do about this.

Train harder. If he trained harder, he would get better quicker, which meant he stood a better chance of living whenever this Akatsuki group did something so that he could find his average wife and have an average life with his two kids and average career.

Troublesome.

Elsewhere in the village, Sasuke Uchiha was getting an explanation from Iruka Umino, who he had gone to to see if he knew where the 'dobe' was. He thought it was weird he had just vanished.

"Well, Sasuke, they only announced it this morning. Naruto-kun was found a few days ago, and returned to the village yesterday. The facts of his kidnapping... are not going to be pleasant." Iruka admitted to the last Uchiha. He saw the odd relationship the two boys had with one another, an almost yin and yang, and he thought Sasuke would appreciate the truth.

"Unpleasant how?" Sasuke asked, slightly interested.

"The first thing to know is that I apologize because I lied to you and all of your classmates. The Kyuubi was not killed by the Yondaime. It is impossible to kill the Kyuubi, because it is made up of chakra."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Then how was it stopped?"

"The Yondaime gave his life to craft a powerful seal that contained the Kyuubi into a single human being. A baby born that day, October 10th. Naruto-kun was that baby." Sasuke looked surprised by that fact, but Iruka continued. "It didn't have any influence over Naruto-kun, but many thought it did and treated Naruto poorly for that fact. I admit at one time, I was one of those people. But once you got to know Naruto, you realized that idea he was influenced by or was the Kyuubi was ridiculous, but not many bothered." Iruka didn't know why he was going into the depth about Naruto's background, but he felt it made sense to try and get Sasuke to empathize with him.

"Naruto was kidnapped by a member of a missing-nin organization called Akatsuki. The specifics are not really known, but we do know is that they completely extracted the Kyuubi from within Naruto and it is in their possession. This means the demon that was a danger to our village 12 years ago is now in the hands of our enemies." Iruka pressed the point onto Sasuke.

Sasuke understood what this meant, but it didn't mean much to him. Yes, that was terrible for Naruto. Yes, this is bad for the village. It was not a good thing. But it didn't really impact him as much as it would other people.

"There is one more thing you should know now. We have knowledge about a few of the other members of Akatsuki. And one of them is... Itachi Uchiha." Iruka made aware of Sasuke's brothers presence in the organization.

Now it impacted him. Now his blood was boiling.

"Dad, what do you mean he used to be a demon?" Elsewhere in the village, Tenten Hagane was having an unexpected conversation with her father, a civilian.

"I'll tell you Tenten darling, that orange wearing brat you saw at the academy was a demon or something like it. The great Yondaime died putting the Kyuubi into some orphan that they named in honor of his wife. We all knew something was going to be wrong with the kid, ain't nobody can turn the Kyuubi into a house pet and we were right. The Uzumaki kid is a no-good troublemaker who doesn't respect no one and nothing. But the news is, some evil folks like Orochimaru and Itachi Uchiha decided to make the Kyuubi their own and stole it right out of the kid. Now the kid is just a kid, a shell of what the Kyuubi was. The Hokage apparently said that all the Kyuubi was taken out of kid, but nobody is gonna spend 12 years with a demon in its gut and turn out perfectly good."

Tenten was processing this information. She needed to hear more, but she understood what her dad was saying. "So what should I do if I meet Uzumaki again?"

Her father shrugged. "Hell if I know, but I wouldn't trust him further than you can throw him. And he ain't no kunai since it won't be that far. I'm sure the Hokage has got a plan to make sure he plays nice, and I bet the kid won't be a menace as much with the demon gone, but it doesn't mean you have to like him. I say use the Sakamachi policy."

"Tolerate them but don't linger?" Tenten repeated the idiom they used about interacting with their noisy neighbors.

Her father smiled "Atta girl. Now, I bet that Gai guy probably wants you training. Be a good kunoichi and wear your hitiate proudly." He ruffled his daughter's hair playfully.

Tenten smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Gai-sensei has been getting on my team to have better cardio. I'm gonna take a run around the village. I'll be back for dinner, alright dad?"

"Okay, I'll make something good." He told her before she left his presence to get her shoes and head out. He let out a long sigh, before getting a beer from his refrigerator. It was days like this he wished his daughter had been normal so he could leave Konoha and move to a small town in the middle of nowhere. Then he wouldn't have to worry about fox demons or possessed boys or anything of that sort and he wouldn't have to worry about his little girl having to face any of them. He twisted off the top and took a chug. At least the demon was out of Konoha, he reminded himself.

…

Naruto was quietly contemplating what was going to happen once he left the room he was in. He was currently in a room located near T&I's main office, which was where he had been located for the duration of his exams. He had met the sensei of the Fourth Hokage and found him an alright old guy who made very certain that what Genma had suspected was true. The Kyuubi was totally gone from him. They went over the story, with Naruto putting extra focus on making sure he got his story straight about how it was Tobi that told him about the Kyuubi inside of him. They didn't really suspect anything so it went according to plan. He also made a decision early that morning that the Hokage didn't agree with.

"You should tell everyone the truth, the Old Man. You let everyone my age think the Kyuubi is dead, and everyone else thinks it is still inside me. But it isn't, and they should know the truth." Naruto had told his grandfather figure.

The Hokage narrowed his brow. "I do not know about that Naruto-kun. While the truth is important, I also must think of what is best for the village. And what is best might be to let people think everything is normal. If we can solve the situation without causing a panic, it should be imperative that we do so." He informed him.

Naruto shook his head. "But that would be lying to everyone, and it will make people less prepared. What if those Akatsuki guys decide to let the Kyuubi loose on the village? I'd rather know it could happen and be able to train for it than have it come as a surprise. And everyone needs to know about how dangerous these guys are!" Naruto passionately defended his thought process.

"Sensei, I think the kid might be right here. Letting everyone think it is still inside him is just a recipe for trouble, and putting it out in the open could actually help us with other villages. If they knew some groups are taking the tailed beasts, they will be more inclined to work with us and take them down. I don't know what they want, but it can't be anything good." Jiraiya told his case to his sensei.

Sarutobi thought it over for a moment, before letting out a long sigh. "It wouldn't make sense for me to say nothing and let you spread the news now would it? If I make the declaration, then people will have a far better chance of understanding and accepting it rather than hearing it from half-baked rumors." He gave Naruto a weathered smile. "I will make sure the village knows the truth, Naruto-kun."

But now the realization had hit Naruto and he wasn't sure how to handle it. Everyone knew what he had been, and that the Kyuubi was out. People might blame him for letting it out on person. Who knows what his buddies would think? Would they be more like their parents, who didn't like him being around their kids, or would they stay the same? He simply wasn't sure.

Finally, someone opened the door to the room. It was Jiraiya, holding a cloak in his hand.

"It is good to see you are still here, Naruto. I've heard from sensei and a few other ninja around here that you are a pretty decent escape artist."

Naruto let out a chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I only escape if something is going to be boring." He admitted to the man.

Jiraiya nodded. "I remember those days, but boredom can be quite relaxing. And no one has ever said being an escape artist is a bad thing for a ninja."

Naruto didn't believe his advice, but he didn't comment. He looked at the cloak. "So they made it that quickly?"

Jiraiya looked down at the cloak and back to Naruto. "Well, it was only a matter of adding the orange cloud design to a black cloak in your size. It didn't take that much time. But I still think it is a bad idea."

Naruto walked up and grabbed the cloak. The previous cloak had been taken in for evidence, despite Genma's theory it was of little value. Little value was enough for its seizure, but Naruto had made the request of a new one his size be made. And he had his own unique reasons.

"I know, but I want to wear it as a memory. Of how I didn't live up to what the Yondaime wanted, and I have to make sure that Akatsuki never hurts Konoha with the Kyuubi or anything else. I'mgonna be Hokage, so I have to do that anyway, but this is just a bigger reason."

"I get that, but why orange? They have red clouds." Jiraiya pointed out the obvious.

"Cause Orange is the best color ever." Naruto said out loud like it was obvious. "And I don't want to be confused as one of them. It will help me remember, but I don't want people thinking I support them or anything. I'm gonna stop them, and no one in the world can stop me!" Naruto boasted as he put the cloak over the outfit Hidashi had given him. He was going to change once he got back home, but he wanted to get use to the cloak.

Jiraiya understood, he guessed. "I see. Well, I've heard worse reasons for wearing something. Might Gai's jumpsuit is a prime example."

"You mean Genma's old teammate? He talked about it, but is it really that bad?" Naruto asked, wondering about this mysterious figure.

Jiraiya nodded again. "Oh yeah, it is the most hideous thing. I guess it works since it doesn't inhibit his taijutsu style, but you gotta have style." Jiraiya thought about his own outfit.

Naruto was interested in seeing the outfit, he would see if Genma would introduce him. "Yeah, well, did the Old Man say that I can leave yet? I wanna take a shower and make sure my place is good."

"Yeah, yeah, he said you could leave. He also told me something interesting that Genma-san mentioned. You are gonna try to learn Minato's Hiraishin?" Jiraiya brought it up.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, Genma said he would teach me it. It is gonna be a lot of hard work, and I have to learn a lot about fuinjutsu stuff, but I'm going to be the Hokage and I need to know stuff like this to make sure I'm the best Hokage I can be and bad things won't happen to the village."

Jiraiya listened before pulling out two books from inside his vest. They were thin and old, so Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I had to dig these out from the vault, but these could help you with that fuinjutsu part real well. In fact, those are the same books I gave Minato back when he was a genin to start learning fuinjutsu."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "The same books!" This was a top grade treasure from his hero, and would help him learn fuinjutsu. This was awesome!

"Yup, the same ones. I can't stick around to help, but the books will go far in teaching you how to be better than decent. Maybe if you get good enough, I'll come back around to show you some really good tricks. Might not help in learning the Hiraishin, kami knows I can't do it, but I can tell you from experience nothing is as dangerous as a seal master cause no one knows what you can do."

"What do you mean, Jiraiya-sama?" Naruto asked, eagerly clutching his new textbooks.

"If you see a fireball coming at you, you know it is a fireball. A fist is a fist, a clone is a clone. Genjutsu can be tricky, but a little chakra can get rid of that problem. But a seal? A seal is hell to get rid of and is just some kanji to most ninja. And it can do some incredible things. You got to be incredible to pull them off, but you would never want to get into a fight with a seal master. People might say I'm the weakest of the 'Sannin;, whatever that means, but I'm still that last one they would want to fight. Why? Because I'm a seal master!" Jiraiya was embellishing a bit by this point, but he really wanted to sell this kid on the field, because if blood was any indicator he could be a legend with seals alone. And the Kyuubi chakra was no longer a danger of affecting his seals, a minor bonus but a bonus.

Naruto's eyes were sparkling. "That is so cool! I have to learn to be a seal master!"

Jiraiya knew he had him. Now just the reminder. "Remember to don't slack off with your taijutsu and ninjutsu. You have to be able to fight without your tools, or if you aren't good enough with them yet against the enemy. I've seen too many seal masters in war lose their lives because they were strong fighters on their own."

"Well, duh. I'm gonna be the best Hokage ever. Of course I'm gonna be awesome!" Naruto so eloquently put it. Jiraiya couldn't help but smile. Minato's kid was going to be fun to see grow up.

Back in the Hokage's office, Anko Mitarashi and Hidashi Hyuga had returned from their preliminary investigation. Anko stepped up to speak to the interested leader.

"After leaving Tanigakure, we were able to backtrack Naruto's journey from the village he gained assistance to the cave which he woke up from. We saw inactive seals located on the walls of the cave that were an obvious protective measure that Akatsuki uses as needed. We were able to enter the cave which was relatively empty save for the corpse of the individual known as Tobi. We inspected Tobi's corpse and were able to verify that he had a Sharingan eye in his right eye. His body also showed a distinctive scarring on the right side of his body that were in a spiral motion. This side of the body was also a distinctive whiter shade than the left half of his body.

While we were inspecting the body, an individual wearing a black cloak with red clouds entered the cave through the floor. He seemed to be plantlike and was two distinctive colors, one side being snow white and the other pitch black. Hidashi engaged the enemy, but was unable to keep track of his movements underground. The being took the corpse of Tobi at the earliest opportunity and escaped using his ability to traverse underground. Pursuit proved impossible and we returned to the cave to find other clues, but were unsuccessful."

The Hokage let out a long sigh, not liking this development at all between this plant fellow and the Sharingan. He turned to Hidashi. "Anything else you have to report, Hyuga-san?"

Hidashi shook his head. "No, Mitarashi-san had given a full and accurate detail of the events that occurred." He reported to the village head.

"I expect full written reports in the morning, understand?" Two nods. "Dismissed." Sarutobi watched as Hidashi left the office, but Anko lingered.

"What is the matter, Anko-chan?" He asked the special jounin.

Anko gave a quick look around the room, as if to make sure they were alone, before speaking. "I have more to report, but felt that Hidashi-san did not need to be aware of this fact."

He narrowed his eyes. This wasn't good. "Then report."

"After examining the body, I believe I am able to give a positive I.D. of the true identity of Tobi. I report this with only slight hesitation in my identification."

Sarutobi tensed. He didn't like this hype. "Who did you identify Tobi as?"

Anko gulped. "I speak with some confidence that Tobi was the body of an adult Obito Uchiha."


	4. The Academy Return

So yeah, I'm back. Back again. Bigdog's back. Tell a friend. Guess who's back, guess who's back, guess who's back, guess who's back na NA nu

Random reference aside, you can blame the hiatus on my job taking the will to write out of me. Fortunately, I found it again and give you this, started months ago but abandoned because of lacking my muse. Well, it was back for another round, so here we go. Thanks for your patience, enjoy the update!

…..

The academy classroom was deathly quiet as Iruka Umino entered right before the bell rang. He found the situation odd, but quickly saw what was the cause of the atmosphere.

Naruto Uzumaki felt like he was in a zoo in the middle of the room, as his fellow classmates seemed to be staring at him rather intently. The attention he was getting, something he had craved in the past, had him wanting to disappear into his new orange cloud cloak. He knew exactly why all the eyes were on him, but he wasn't sure what to do about it. He didn't know about the stupid Kyuubi before that Tobi dude and his evil friends took it out of him! What could he really say?

Iruka watched the class stare at Naruto in silence before knowing that he needed to get the attention away from him. "Alright students, class is in session! Get your eyes to the front of the class and get out your math textbooks!"

It took a few seconds for the class to fully turn away from Naruto, but their eyes leaving was a blessing to Naruto. He normally loved attention, but this just felt wrong. He eventually followed his sensei's orders and got out his math textbook. His attention focused in on Iruka sensei, who began to explain the days lesson on algebra, which Naruto barely understood. But today, for the first time, he could really understand what Iruka was saying. Something really made sense to him with that hard math that seemed impossible a few weeks ago. Square roots and powers were not that difficult! Okay, they were, but the difference was like choosing between what was the perfect ramen made up of and what was the perfect meat in ramen. The second one, he could figure out it was pork. But the first one couldn't be done!

That tangent of thinking excluded, Naruto was slow to realize that when the moved on to grammar, more boring stuff, that it meant a full hour had passed. An hour of math, and it didn't feel like forever. About fifteen minutes into the tense exercise Iruka was drilling them with, Naruto suddenly realized he wasn't going crazy. Normally, work drove him to fidget and try to getting out of it while planning for a prank, but that wasn't happening. He was still bored and wanted to do something else, but the compulsion to actually do something was gone.

He was still energetic, but, as Iruka would put it, he stopped acting like a battery. He needed to talk with him after class.

Finally, it was time for lunch and the class room cleared except for 6 people. Iruka was staying in the room for lunch, while Naruto was waiting to talk with him. Shikamaru and Choji were leaving, but they gave an acknowledging nod to Naruto as they left, which Naruto gave back. He was happy to see his friends recognition, however slight. Hinata was standing by her seat, poking her fingers together as she was sneaking glances at Naruto while Sasuke immediately moved towards the blonde.

"Hey, Uzumaki, I want the truth. Did you meet with my cursed brother?" Sasuke immediately asked him when he was within a few feet of him.

Naruto turned around, surprised by the sudden questioning. "What are you talking about?"

Sasuke stared at him intensely. "He is supposed to be working with this "Akatsuki" group, or that is what I was told. Did you see him?" His voice carried with it equal parts curiosity and intimidation.

Naruto was off put by this question, but just shook his head. "No, I only met somebody named Tobi and he was wearing a mask." Naruto told him truthfully.

"What about when they took the Kyuubi out of you? Did you see him then?"

The room froze at the stark question. Sasuke had cut through the elephant and was demanding answers. Naruto felt uncomfortable but meekly shook his head on the topic.

"I was unconscious the whole time. I didn't see anything."

Sasuke stared at the blonde who was surprised how off put he was by Sasuke's questions before the Uchiha let off a huff of frustration before exiting the room. He hadn't got any answers he had hoped for which would help him know if he was any closer to fulfilling his purpose in life.

"H-h-how are you doing?" Naruto turned his attention from the Uchiha to the quietest person in class, Hinata Hyuga. She had always been pleasant, and he was surprised and touched she was asking how he was doing.

He shrugged. "Pretty good, everything considered. I actually understood some of what Iruka-sensei was going on about, and I'm starting to study some super cool stuff." Naruto wanted to say more, but he was going to try and keep it a surprise."

"Super cool stuff?" Hinata sounded interested by the concept.

"Yup. It is going to help me become Hokage for sure!" Naruto smiled earnestly.

That earned a small smile on the Hyuga's face. "I can't wait for you to show us Naruto-kun. Have a good lunch!" With that, she scurried out of the room, impressed by her own ability to have a conversation with him.

"Yeah, have a good lunch yourself Hinata-san!" He waved her off as she left, leaving him alone with Iruka sensei.

Iruka looked up from his lesson plans he had been going over waiting for his closest student who was walking his way. "You actually understood what I was talking about, huh?"

Naruto shrugged. "I know, I thought you were talking about a bunch of nonsense most of the time that everyone else pretended to understood all this time. But now I know you are only saying nonsense some of the time." Naruto ragged on his teacher.

Iruka rolled his eyes. "Well, it is good to see you are getting the material more. You seemed to actually be listening instead of planning pranks today."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I really was. It was like, I didn't need to move around so much. I wonder why?"

Iruka took a few moments before giving his logical opinion. "Well, I think part of the issue must have been the...um... fox."

He was confused. "What did it have to do with anything?" His eyes nearly wandered down to his stomach, where the seal had been.

"Well, from what I understand, you gained a lot of chakra from it because of how the seal was designed. Now that it isn't feeding you all that chakra, you aren't getting all that energy." Iruka hypothesized.

Naruto pondered this for a few moments before frowning. "That kinda sucks! I mean, don't ninja's need a lot of chakra? I mean, that would have been useful, wouldn't it?" He pointed out.

Iruka thought that was a fair point, but he had already seen a few benefits. "Maybe, but our chakra growth is closely tied to how much chakra you have. The more you start with, the more you end up with, do you understand? Since you are already starting with so much, you will still have a lot, probably a lot more than almost anyone in the village. And it will probably be easier for you to control your chakra now."

"What do you mean control it?" Naruto asked his sensei.

"I have taught this already, you should already know this Naruto." Iruka chastised his student a little bit. "Ninja's have to control their chakra in order to use jutsu effectively and hide their chakra levels from foes, among other things. And it is easier to control something if it isn't too heavy and too large for you to carry. Which would you rather carry around all day, a bathtub or a mop bucket?" Iruka went for an easy comparison.

Naruto understood that well enough. "Yeah, I guess so. Wait a second, does that mean if I can control my jutsu better, I can finally get the Bunshin down! That way, I don't have to fail again!"

Iruka smiled and nodded. "That's for sure. While the exam isn't until next spring starts, it will probably be tested on and you will need it to pass."

Naruto gave a grin. "No problem, Iruka-sensei! I am going to be Hokage and stop Akatsuki after all!" Naruto boasted before waving goodbye to his teacher. Iruka didn't like that last tidbit. Stop Akatsuki? The group that had Seven Swordsman of the Mist and Itachi Uchiha in it! He couldn't help but fear for his student's future. He just was hoping for the best from him.

Outside, Naruto was munching on the rice ball he had gotten from the cafeteria at the Academy while he was pulling an old book out of one of his cloak pockets. It was one of the ones that he had been given by Jiraiya a few days before, and it was the one he decided to start with. He had been procrastinating a bit in starting them since he wasn't certain which one he wanted to go with first, but this one had locked him in once he read the subtitle found on the first page of the book.

"Fuinjutsu Training: Genin Edition- Uzumaki Clan Method and more" by Moe

The thing that obviously caught his eye was the name "Uzumaki". He was really curious as to why Uzumaki was a name linked to sealing. And there was an Uzumaki clan? He needed to know more. He was planning on asking Jiji about this clan after school, but for now he was going to start reading. Finding his place on the tire swing that was a comfort for him, he began to read.

 _Fuinjutsu, otherwise known as the art of seals, is by far the most difficult art of the shinobi one can attempt to learn. While the athletic requirements to become masters of taijutsu or kenjutsu may be strenuous to reach, the human body is widely capable of meeting them. The chakra capacity and hand speeds needed for to become elite with ninjutsu, among other skills, are rare but numerous among shinobi villages. Genjutsu excellence requires chakra control and creativity that few will ever meet the criterea of._

 _But these three fields act as a cycle for one another, a janken effect. Generally, taijutsu falls to ninjutsu which falls to genjutsu which falls to taijutsu. This is not a perfect cycle, but is meant to represent how these three arts must be connected and achievable by a shinobi in order to reach their true potential._

 _Fuinjutsu acts outside of this cycle, and is it's own art. It requires the much of the bodily mastery of taijutsu requires, the hand speed and chakra needed for ninjutsu, and chakra control and creativity desired for genjutsu and more. It requires the will to go beyond what we all can know and find out what we can discover._

 _The best example of this lies with the Uzumaki Clan of the Land of Whirlpools, renowned for their fuinjutsu skills and mastery. Their exploits on behalf of Konohagakure during the Great War of the Villages have fallen into legend even a mere five years after it's conclusion. It is within these 5 years that I have begun crafting this instruction manual for aspiring fuinjutsu experts._

 _I have spent over a decade becoming a great expert for the village of Konohagakure, but I knew my skills were limited and my experiences narrow. Thus, I took apart of a two year expedition to the Land of Whirlpools to learn from the greatest of this generation and discover the best methods to instruct those new in the art. I-_

Naruto was interrupted from his terribly interesting reading by Kiba Inuzuka. "Did they give you a brain while you were with them, Naruto-san? You never read!" He prodded into what Naruto was doing.

Naruto shot a look at his companion, annoyed by the statement. "You're one to talk, dog brain! And even I will read if it is about something interesting."

Kiba shot a look right back at him. "Yeah, well at least a dog brain would be bigger than yours!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Whatever, dog chow breath. I got important things to read about, so how about you go do whatever dogs do and sniff butts or chase a mailman or something." He insulted his Inuzuka friend before getting back to reading.

… _I have compiled this text in hope that this most noble art, taught with the words of its greatest masters, will continue on for generations as an important tool for the best shinobikind has to offer._

 _Now is a time for warning. Do not skip ahead, and do not attempt to move on to the next chapter of material with "good enough." It is only good enough until your moment of need, or only good enough to remember until you actually put it into practice. To master something, you must master every step of the process. This is the way the Uzumaki clan teaches their young, and it has paid dividence over the generation for them. It is best to heed their advice._

 _While this manual is designed to be capable for the naive of the art, I recommend finding an experienced mentor who can assure that your progress is progressing you on your path to fuinjutsu mastery. The man who throws the perfect bad punch is still throwing a bad punch._

"Uzumaki clan? I have never heard about any Uzumaki clan. I thought you were just some orphan, Naruto-san."

Naruto nearly jumped out of his tire as he hadn't realized Kiba was reading over his shoulder. He closed the book and looked annoyed at him. Kiba stood straight up before continuing. "And seals? You can't even do a Bunshin right, how are you supposed to learn seals? Maybe Shikamaru-san could be good at them, but you are even dumber than the Uchiha's fangirls!"

"I'm not dumb, Kiba-san. I can learn how to do seals easy!"

Kiba chuckled. "Yeah sure. I bet you can't learn one useful seal by the time I graduate. I would say we, but we all know you won't get the Bunshin jutsu complete either."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You are being a real ass today, Kiba. And I bet you I can!"

Kiba stuck his hand out. "Loser has to do one thing the winner says?"

Naruto gave a determined looked at the outstretched hand before nodding. "I wonder how much ramen I can eat in one sitting?" He thought aloud as he shook his hand.

Kiba laughed. "The question is if you will be able to clean all the dog crap laying around the Inuzuka compound or not, Naruto." He let go of his hand. "I better let you try to understand that book now, I don't want to make it to easy on myself." He turned around and began walking away from him. "See you later, oh great seal master." With a sarcastic chuckle, Kiba left the scene to only hear a "Smell ya later dog boy" as he left Naruto to his own devices. He immediately made his way to where Choji and Shikamaru was before shaking his head.

"You totally owe me if he pulls it off. I know he can eat a ton of ramen, and I don't think I want to use all my allowance on his stomach." He told his two clan friends.

Shikamaru waved him off. "Don't worry, I will. Sorry for asking you to do this, but when I saw that book in his hands I figured it was the least I can do."

Choji took a break from his bag of chips. "I still don't get why you didn't just try to push Naruto-kun yourself. I know you said that he works better when he is pushed by competition, but I don't get why."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Kiba-san can make him pissed off a lot easier than I could, for one. And secondly, the whole demon fox thing probably messed with his head. I mean, we all know we got to get stronger with it loose with a bunch of bad guys right?" The Nara pointed out to the duo, who nodded in agreement. They were going to be shinobi, and they had to be as strong as possible to fight the Kyuubi if it ever attacked the village again. "And since I don't want to have to do as much work getting there, I figure if we make Naruto stronger then I can go along with the plan." Choji knew about the plan, and Kiba didn't care to ask. "And since he is probably an Uzumaki, seals are in his blood or something." Shikamaru tacked on.

"Yeah about that, you knew about the Uzumaki Clan? How come I never heard about it?" Kiba asked the Nara.

"They got wiped out in the Second Shinobi War since they were a giant threat. You would only hear about them if you studied history nowadays."

Choji frowned towards Naruto. "I hope he doesn't get his hopes up though. I mean, he is an orphan. And finding out you had a famous clan that were killed before you were born would suck a lot."

Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, but what can you do? Maybe he can use it to push himself further."

…

Naruto was taking the long route from the Hokage Tower that night for two reasons. The first was so the could keep reading the book in the sunlight. The second was to take in the truth he had learned from the Hokage about his former clan. About their legendary status and tragic fate, and that his name was from a real member of the clan. He wasn't going to let that stop him. If he was an Uzumaki, then he would live up to the Uzumaki name. He would be one of the greatest Fuinjutsu Masters of All Time, and the best Hokage ever!

He wasn't looking where he was going while he was reading, leading into the inevitable.

BUMP. _CRASH!_

'Oh crap'. Naruto immediately thought to himself. That was not a good sign. He looked up from his book and saw he was at the Yamanaka Flower Store, where he had just bumped into Ino and made her drop a potted plant, shattering the clay construct into a dozen pieces.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!" Ino yelled when she realized who it was.

Naruto knew he was in the wrong, so he decided to pay the piper on this case. "You don't have to yell, Ino-san! I know, I should have watched where I was going. So how much does that pot cost? 50, 100 ryo?"

Ino was getting ready to yell more, but she was surprised by the nature of Naruto's reaction. "Wait, isn't this where you start saying it was my fault, or try to run away?"

Naruto looked around, confused. "But it was may fault. I should have been looking where I was going. And even I know the 'you break it, you buy it' rule. So much is it?" He honestly just wanted to go home, so he was trying to move along everything.

Ino was stunned by the unexpected bout of maturity she was seeing in Naruto. She only saw him in class, so she thought of him as a trouble making nuisance, but she guessed there was more to him than that. He was even reading!

"So what is the book?" She asked, pointing towards it.

Naruto sighed, expecting a price. "It is a book on fuinjutsu. Yeah, yeah yuck it up, but I am going to be one of the greatest seal masters the world has ever seen." He had a determined look on his face, daring her to mock him like Kiba had.

Ino turned her head sideways, trying to read the title. "That book looks really old, are you sure it is any good?"

Naruto got defensive over his reading material. "Any good? Is the same book the Fourth Hokage used to learn fuinjutsu any good?"

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Same book? Well, if he did use it I guess it would be good." She took a moment to think before a sudden thought came to her. "Wait, so in that book you can learn the seal that..." She began to trail off, realizing her line of questioning would be real personal.

"Learn what seal?" Naruto asked curiously.

"You know, the seal that he, um, used on you." Ino finished her original question lamely.

Naruto shrugged off the comment and shook his head. "No, this stuff is the basics. Jiji said that was a super rare secret seal that he used, so it is probably hidden somewhere."

"Oh." It was the only thing that came to Ino's mind at the moment. "Well, I guess that makes sense." She paused for a few moments, before asking a question that a lot of Konoha was interested in. "So, I don't mean to be rude, but is it, like, okay to talk about you used to have the Kyuubi in you and stuff? Cause it seems to be this really big thing, but now it is all taboo to talk about since it seems sensitive and all."

Naruto had to think for a few moments before answering. "Well, Sasuke-san asked about it pretty plainly during lunch so I guess it isn't that taboo. I mean, if it is important or something I don't mind, but I don't want to be defined by it. People used it to label me all my life and … it was lonely." Naruto told Ino honestly. "I want to be known as Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage. Not that I used to have some giant fox in my gut."

Ino looked over Naruto, surprised at his answer and how real it was. That he wasn't just the knucklehead everyone knew he was. She gave him a soft smile. "Yeah, okay, Hokage boy, I get it. Don't talk about it unless we need to. And it is 1200 ryo."

"What?"

"The pot you broke. You owe us 150 ryo."

"Oh yeah, that. Can I pay you in class tomorrow? Since I only have a bit of change on me..." Naruto confessed.

Ino nodded. "Sure, though make sure you do. If you don't..." The soft smile turned into a menacing grin. "Daddy said it would be safe for us to use our jutsu on you now. I wonder what I could make you do?"

Naruto shuttered, and nodded. "Don't worry, I will have the money for the pot tomorrow. See you then, Ino-san." He left the scene hearing a goodbye from her as he returned to his apartment.

Once there, he began to observe a gift the Hokage had given to him after his return. Seal mechanisms that would protect his apartment. He was starting to understand a tiny bit about what made up these seals, matrixes and binders and locks and bridges and technical jargon he was uncovering. These seals were way more complicated then what he was going to learn to do anytime soon. He looked back at the book, remembering the title for the first chapter, what his first seal would be.

" _How to Make a Piece of Paper Explode."_


	5. As The World Turns

The next chapter is here. Some editing has occurred removing a decision I decided may or may not come true and was stupid spoilers for the idea in the first place. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

…..

Hiruzen Sarutobi was in a bind. Though Anko Mitarashi had only known Obito Uchiha to a mild extent, she was well aware of what he looked like. While she could not say with perfect certainty that it was an adult Obito, all signs pointed to such. She said the jaw structure, the eye and eye shape, the hair and the complexion all matched her memories of Obito and his appearance also resembled Obito's father, a casualty of an A-Rank mission five years after his son's death. As the father's body had been brought back to Konoha and cremated, as was tradition, it could not be him that Anko saw. And the situation about it being the same side that Obito had been unaffected by his injuries only strengthened this belief. Essentially, until further evidence was introduced, he must admit the probability that the boy he once knew grew up to become a villain.

A great villain if his suspicions about the night of the Kyuubi assault's mysterious assailant was true.

The bind came from the fact that the most obvious insight into Obito would never believe this story and would fight the desecration of his friend's memory. Kakashi would not believe him in the least. So what was the Hokage to do?

"Are you certain about this, Hokage-sama?" Ibiki Morino, a renowned expert in all things intelligence and torture wanted to be sure of this surprising mission he was being given.

The aging Hokage nodded. "I wouldn't ask this of you if it was not essential. The scene must be reexamined, and the records must be scoured for any collaborating evidence. We must now if Anko-san was right in her assessment."

Ibiki gave pause, wondering about the obvious issue on his assignment. "And about the last Uchiha, how am I to handle him if our paths do come across during the mission." The boy was known to be eagle-eyed in regards to his clan's compound, even skilled shinobi could create small disturbances the boy would notice. Besides heading to the scene of Obito's death to Iwa shinobi, Ibiki was to reexamine the Uchiha compound to see if there were any secrets that could explain this phenomenon.

"If he brings it to anyone's attention, I will make sure to discuss it with him. I have already created an alibi for your investigation. But there is no need to say anything if Sasuke does not discover it." The Hokage told Ibiki.

After agreeing that was for the best, Ibiki was dismissed and the investigation was to begin. This left Hiruzen to focus on other important matters, mainly Naruto. He had begun studying fuinjutsu, which gave him two trains of thought. The first hoped that Naruto's lack of focus did not distract him from achieving success in this field, one that was so well linked to his heritage. The second was this was a terrible idea, because one of the first tenants of fuinjutsu was creating explosive tags because of their relative ease. And he wasn't sure how many worse ideas he had recently then to give Naruto access to a nigh unlimited access to explosions. He hoped the boy had a bit more common sense than his instincts told him.

…

 _Sit down in the seat Akaji. Just sit down like you do every day. No need to look at it, just sit down._

"Did someone leave their stuff on my seat?"

 _Damn it! Destroy the evidence. DESTROY THE EVIDENCE!_

BOOM! Smoke filled the air around the location of Akaji's seat in the classroom, and those who were already seated began to cough. And while it should have been worrying that something just went kaboom in the senior class of the academy, everyone already had an inkling feeling as to who had caused it.

As the smoke cleared, Akaji was waving his head up and down, his face in a grimace. "Damn tag blew up!"

"Not fully." A keen eyed girl pointed out. She was correct. On his desk was a tattered, nearly destroyed piece of paper. It looked like it had been in a fire and rats had gotten to it, but it was clear it was an explosive tag.

A poorly made explosive tag.

"Naruto-san, you tried to kill me!" Akaji immediately accused the young blonde, who was doing his best to blend in with everyone who had been shocked.

"It wasn't strong enough to do that!" Naruto quickly defended himself, before realizing he was supposed to be giving an alibi. "I mean, it wasn't me! Why would it be me!"

"He did call your cloak hideous. And you said you would get him back for it..." Kiba pointed out casually. Naruto looked at him, exaggerating a look of total betrayal.

"Kiba, how dare you! I would never try to blow up someone just because they don't have any taste!" Naruto tried to defend himself.

"You were trying to blow up his pants, weren't you!" The girl from earlier accused him. Naruto had the decency to look embarrassed. They had figured him out.

On everyone's behalf, Shikamaru let out a long sigh. "You better hope Iruka-sensei doesn't find out, or else he's gonna make you clean the desks or something."

"I was thinking more of all the floors. It's been a while." Iruka entered the room right on time, but he had obviously been keeping an eye on the situation as it unfolded. He should have never left the room during lunch period, of course his favorite delinquent would try SOMETHING with his new talent.

While Naruto tried to hide behind the nearest person to him, an increasingly growing red Hinata Hyuga, to give him time to plan an escape route, Iruka had other plans. Not even a minute later, Naruto was hogtied in a seat next to Sasuke Uchiha with the express orders of not to try anything stupid or he would spend the rest of the day like that. Naruto was smart enough to comply, while Sasuke was able to find enough solace in the fact that his useless fangirls couldn't swarm the seat next to him that day. Even if he would have to deal with the muffled moans of Naruto.

Class went into session, with a humiliated Naruto still working on escaping his predicament. He did not want to see how he was going to be punished for his little act of revenge. He had underpowered the seal on purpose by a lot, so it would only destroy Akaji's pants. That way, when he stood up, his underwear would be showing. Or maybe even his butt if he was lucky. That was what he deserved for insulting his cloak. He could feel the glare of Sasuke coming from besides him, and from around the room from his fangirls. He didn't enjoy being put here either, which was all the more reason to escape. And in fact, he knew of a perfect way to do it. Though it would probably hurt like hell. Casually, he made sure his cloak bunched up in the back until his fingers could access his back pants pockets. It was where he kept his things...

At the end of their language lesson two hours later, it was about time for them to be dismissed for the day. His plan ready, Naruto bided for the moment.

"Please remember to finish the worksheet for tomorrow, and to bring in your shuriken if you can for tomorrow. The academy is still waiting for our next shipment, so we could run short for tomorrow's lesson if everyone needed to bring one. And if your parents for whatever reason don't believe you," Iruka's eyes lingered at a few of the boys, especially Kiba, "I have already written you an approval form signed by the director." He bent down for a minute to look through the folders on his desk, and Naruto saw his chance.

BOOM! "Ow ow ow ow ow!" An explosion came from Naruto's seat this time,one louder than threatening, and the area filled with smoke. Iruka began to direct everyone away from the minor blast so he could tend to Naruto, but a yellow blur suddenly ran out of the smoke cloud and through the door in a split second. Iruka let out a sigh, and cursed the day someone told Naruto about seals. He returned to where Naruto had sat, besides seeing a very annoyed Sasuke, nothing was clear. Until the cloud went away.

A pile of burning ropes, and a very tattered detonated explosive tag attached.

"Is Uzumaki-san mad?" Shino Abrurame audibly asked aloud, directed to anyone who could answer.

"Did he really just use an explosion to get out of being tied up?" Ino couldn't help but ask.

His earlier target, Akaji, had a good question. "Where did he get the supplies?"

"His back pocket. He was doing this for the last hour. I don't know how none of you noticed." Sasuke pointed out in an agitated tone, in part from the soot he was coverd in and in part the antics in general.

"And tell me, why did you do nothing about it Sasuke-kun?" Iruka questioned his student.

"Again, I don't know how none of you noticed, Iruka-sensei." Sasuke made sure Naruto wasn't the only burnt person that day.

Iruka flinched, knowing he had been gotten good, and let out a long sigh. He contemplated chasing Naruto, but he had a decent head start while he had a class to finish. It seemed like Naruto's punishment would occur the next day after all.

But said boy did not even think his punishment was going to carry. He wasn't even thinking of much besides outrunning the fallout of his failed prank and successful escape. And the superficial burns on his wrist that hurt pretty bad.

His first foray into seals in the field had been almost dud. Everyone knew who was learning them in the class, so it was obvious he would get blamed. And the ones he were making weren't good enough to even do the basic job he was trying to perform, and didn't even destroy themselves! He would have to put a bunch more work into studying and all that nonsense before he could really claim to win the bet with Kiba. He hadn't been working on it long, and had underestimated their difficulty at first glance. He wouldn't make that mistake again.

Naruto found his way going to his apartment when he was startled by the sight of one of his saviors, Akane Sozuki, in front of his door. His mind went to what he had just done and tried his best to play it off.

"Akane-chan, what are you doing here?" He asked, trying not to be rude.

"Well, the Hokage figured you would need directions to your new apartment, so he sent me to do the job." She told him honestly.

Naruto took a minute to process this before rushing right by her. He threw the door open to his apartment and saw it was barren. He quickly charged in, followed casually by Akane, as he went out of sight from her to check his bedroom.

"Where is everything!" He yelled out loud, obviously confused. He ran out of his old room to stare accusingly at Akane. "What happened?"

She rolled her eyes. "Did you really think the Hokage would let you stay here after what happened? Hokage-sama wanted to put you in a safer residence in case something happened, and he couldn't really do it here. So he had a team bring your stuff to a new place for you to live. And he left me in charge to bring you there." While she wasn't a big fan of leading D-Rank missions, it was for a good cause and she made sure all his things got there safely.

Naruto first looked shocked and offended at what he was told, but he quickly realized that it was absolutely the right thing to do. Nobody knew what could happen to him in the future after the big secret about his former burden was revealed and it would be smarter for him to be somewhere safer. It didn't mean he wouldn't miss this old place.

"You got it really good, you know that Naruto-san? Air conditioning, two bedrooms, a little balcony, washer and dryer unit, and somebody left a really nice living room set in there. You have a pretty cool little pad for yourself now. I would love to have something this nice."

But it wasn't like he HAD to live here. And he definitely appreciated the upgrade. "Alright, alright. Take me to my new place Akane-chan." He told her, trying to suppress the grin he wanted to wear.

Naruto followed her for about twenty minutes, making sure to note all the landmarks and street signs that would tell him where he was in relation to what he knew. They were going at a slower pace for that very reason, even if he didn't fully realize it. Akane wasn't quite sure how it felt, moving to a new place seeing since she still lived with her parents for matters of convenience. But she imagined it was exciting and a bit nerve wracking based on what she read from Naruto's expressions, and she shared the sentiments. Eventually a nice apartment complex came into full view.

"Your room is going to be on the fourth floor, apartment number 407." Akane pointed out to Naruto as they turned to walk up the path to the apartment steps.

Naruto eyes narrowed onto the fourth floor as he tried to find what number was his, but it was still too small for him to read from ground level. As for where it was, it was alright. It was further from his favorite ramen stand and the academy then his old apartment was, but that was probably a good thing. Besides being a perfect excuse for being late, a new part of town meant a new start. With everything that had happened in the last few weeks, Naruto had decided to try and make this a fresh start for himself with everyone in the village. He knew it would probably be hard, but if he didn't give it a shot then how could he ever call himself Hokage?

They quickly made their way up the three flights of steps to the fourth and highest floor, and Akane pulled a key from her pocket as they walked by apartment 401 and 402. "Here you go, Naruto-san. The key to your apartment. It might be in some boxes, but all of your stuff is in their and ready for you."

She barely saw Naruto take the key and run down the hallway and turned the corner, making his way to room 407 in a flash. She stopped for a moment to giggle to herself at his exuberance, before casually walking the rest of the hallway to catch up with him.

As she went to turn the corner of the hallway, the resident in apartment 405 opened the door. "Who is making all that racket?" He stopped and looked at Akane, obviously thinking the culprit was here, before his face gained a faint blush. "Oh, are you the new resident? I guess you moving your stuff up here would be pretty loud."

Akane could help but find the young man was cute, even handsome. She tried to stop a similar blush from appearing before answering. "No, no, I'm not moving here. I wish I did, I still live with my parents. But you didn't need to know that, heh heh." A nervous chuckle escaped her throat, and the young man gave a chuckle back.

"It's okay. I can't blame you for that. So what are you doing here... I'm sorry, but what is your name? I don't want to be rude."

"Akane. Akane Sozuki. I'm sorry, but I'm just finishing a mission and helping someone move in here at Apartment 407."

"So they finally filled they place, eh? It has been empty for months, I guess Landlord-san stopped trying to gouge someone. So is the rest of your team with you Sozuki-chan, or..."

"No, I'm just escorting them to the apartment. We moved his things earlier."

The man nodded. "I see, I wasn't here, since I was at work."

Akane looked over the man, a touch confused. "Work... did you mean a mission? Excuse me for assuming, but I would swear you have the air of a shinobi... I'm sorry, actually I didn't catch your name."

The man let out a chuckle. "No I am a shinobi. It is just I work for the village as an Academy sensei. My name is..." He was cut off when an excited Naruto returned to speak to Akane. But not before being shocked at seeing a familiar face.

"Iruka-sensei?"

Akane was stunned in how quickly the handsome man's demeanor changed once Naruto came into sight. His hand snapped forward and caught Naruto around the head, and his face grew to a sinister and threatening grin.

"I caught you Naruto-kun! Did you really think you were going to escape after what you did!" Iruka told Naruto in a tone matching his face.

"I think I'm missing something." Akane said outloud, hoping to get clarification from either individual.

Iruka realized how he was acting, and quickly returned to a more normal face, still with Naruto in an iron grip. "I'm sorry about that Sozuki-chan. This here is Naruto Uzumaki, troublemaker and one of my students at the academy. He got away from me today from his punishment for trying to blow up one of my other students in class this afternoon, but he won't be getting away this time."

"It's a lie! I'm being framed! Help me Akane-chan!" Naruto tried to fib to get out of harm's way, but it wasn't working. For some reason, Akane trusted this Iruka fellow more than Naruto.

"The real question is why are you... wait a second. Is this your client Sozuki-chan?" Iruka asked her a bit surprised.

"But what are you doing here sensei? Did you really look for me all this time?" Naruto asked, still struggling to get out of his predicament.

Iruka pointed to the apartment behind him with his free hand. "I live here, Naruto-kun. And I was coming out to see what all the ruckus was, but I know realize it was just my new neighbor being himself."

It took a moment for it to sink in. But when the truth hit Naruto, his cries became desperate. "Let me go back to my old apartment! I liked it there! I can live without air conditioning! Don't make me live right next to sensei!" He begged of her, but she couldn't help but find it amusing. Something said earlier caught her attention at the moment, and cut her from her merriment.

"Wait, blow up a classmate? Naruto-san, what does he mean?"

Naruto thought about lying but fessed up. "I didn't try to blow him up. I just wanted to blow off the back of his pants! He disrespected my cloak, so it was a little payback. It wasn't gonna hurt him, I swear! I made sure the seal wasn't strong enough to do that."

Akane's eye twitched. "That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. You deserve whatever punishment Iruka-kun here makes up for you!" She yelled at him, unable to believe the relatively sweet boy she had come to know would do such a thing.

"Which is going to involve a lot of soapy water and scrubbing." Iruka made sure to bring an authoritative tone to his warning.

"But this isn't school! You can't do this to me!" Naruto began trying to get away again.

Iruka dropped him, to Akane's confusion. "What are you doing?" She questioned.

"Technically, he is right. This isn't the academy, and I don't have any authority right now. But I can tell you to be at the Academy at sunrise, unless you want to spend all of tomorrow night scrubbing floors. And don't worry. I'll be sure to wake you up." Iruka had a smug grin that told Naruto there was no point in delaying this with another escape attempt. Iruka was gonna get his pound of flesh.

Naruto let out a loud sigh. "Fine, fine. I'll be at the stupid academy in the stupid morning."

Akane decided to try and comfort the young student. "Don't worry too much, getting up way too early is gonna be something you have to do a lot once you get a headband, "she told him as she flicked a thumb to her own. "Think of this as a little practice."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sure Akane-chan. Practice. I think I need some ramen." Naruto's mind began to wonder to his favorite stand.

"Don't you need to put your things away? And do the homework I assigned to you? Along with making sure you go to bed early so you don't fall asleep in my class?" Iruka grilled him out of his daydream.

"I haven't done that in weeks!" Naruto tried to defend himself, but it fell on deaf ears. He gave up, deciding he would just go a little later when his sensei wasn't being so pushy. "Anyway, thanks for showing me this place Akane-chan. I hope we can talk again soon." Naruto gave a resigned look towards his new neighbor and let out a sigh that spoke of half of his feelings. "See you later Iruka sensei." Naruto walked away from the two of them to his apartment, his scheming face on how to use seals to prank the man going unseen.

Akane waved him off. "Later Naruto-kun." She gave a quick look to Iruka, before easing into a smile. "I'll see you around as well, Iruka-kun. I might pop by sometime to make sure Naruto isn't getting into too much trouble. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

Iruka was a bit surprised, but ended up smiling at the kunoichi. "No problem Sozuki-chan. Or would you prefer Akane?" He asked, in a bolder move than normal. In response, she gave a grin and waved him goodbye before disappearing in a flash. Iruka couldn't help but grin to himself, for more than one reason. He was happy that the Hokage had agreed with his idea that Naruto needed people he could trust closer to him. He hoped he was up for the task.

….

Nagato sat in his chair, heavy breathing the only noise in the room until Konan entered. She saw his expression and instantly knew something was up.

"What is it, Nagato-sama?" When they were alone was the only time she would use his real name. It also showed she was serious.

He hid nothing from her. "I studied some of the Kyuubi's chakra and have learned something that is both disheartening and intriguing. The Uzumaki only holds the yang chakra of the beast. This means we hold an incomplete bjuu, and have no way of knowing if this may affect our plans to bring them together."

Konan's eyes grew wide in worry. "This is not good. We must immediately search for what happened to the yin chakra." Her mind began to race in who would be best to send.

"In due time," Nagato eased her worry, "when we are stronger and they let their guard down, we can return to Konoha. But for now, I pose to you a question. I do not know the answer, but it may prove important to our plans." He turned to look at her, his eyes showing a light of intrigue she rarely saw anymore.

"Do you think yin and yang are needed in balance to reach your full potential, or it would be better to separate them into two unique forces?


End file.
